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The State : California’s Image Sinks

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California’s allure is plummeting in the eyes of its residents, a new poll revealed. “The bloom is off the rose,” said Mervin Field, director of the California Poll. The Golden State’s image is at its lowest point since the survey began in 1967. In the San Francisco Bay Area, 76% rate the state highly, but that figure is still a decline of 7 percentage points from 1985. Only 49% in Los Angeles and Orange counties describe the state as the best, a 24-point drop from a 1985 high of 73%. The proportion of residents polled who describe the state as “one of the best places to live” dropped 20 percentage points in the last four years, from 78% to 58%. Only 27% of respondents rank it as “nice but not outstanding.” Another 11% describe California as “about an average place to live” while 3% say it is “a rather poor place.” The poll was based on telephone interviews with 496 adults statewide over a 10-day period, and it has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4.5 percentage points.

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